How-To Cook Beans In A Rice Cooker

How-to cook beans in a rice cooker. A simple no-fuss method to cook any amount of dried beans, perfect for the freezer, and easy on the stomach without any bean bloat!

O beans! What to do with those big bags of dried beans or stock-ups from the bulk bins? Do you find yourself with a bean abundance, wanting to make batches of hummus, snacks, burgers, soup, but those bad boys are dried and hard! WHAT DO YOU DO!? This post is long overdue, as I get asked in almost every beany post, just how do I cook my dried beans from scratch. Sometimes I’ll just go with my lazy tendencies and use canned, but a can of beans is just not enough for most things! Now, how do we go from the photo above to this…

It’s rather simple and much easier than you think. Plus, using a rice cooker is where it’s at! Much quicker than a slow cooker, and less messy and finicky than on the stove. And maybe my favorite thing about making them this way is the “de-bloat”/tummy-easing technique you can use. I’ve tried this same technique on the stove top, but it was not as effective as using a longer cooking method (but shorter time than a slow cooker). I use my rice cooker mostly, not for rice, but beans. I like to prep huge batches of hummus for the week and then make enough for another 2 weeks which I freeze in the freezer. When I’m making burgers, I like to make not just a small batch, but a big batch, again, to freeze.

So let me take you through my easy bean process. I will be showing you how to cook only 1 cup of dried chickpeas, which yields only 3 cups cooked, so just double or triple the quantities (and change the bean) depending on your needs (and size of your rice cooker). And since the beans are being thoroughly socked and cooked, no need to worry about any bean deaths!

Overnight, soak your dried beans in the rice cooker (unplugged and turned off) you will be using with 3 cups of filtered water.

In the morning, drain and rinse the hydrated beans, put them back in the rice cooker, and add 4 cups of filtered water, along with 1 bay leaf.

Turn the rice cooker on for one cycle. When the rice cooker beeps that it's finished, check the water level (you may need to add a bit more, but you should be fine if the beans are still covered), and run for one more cycle (you can end this cycle before it beeps, about half way if need be).

Then simply remove the bay leaf, drain, and rinse your cooked beans one more time and use for whatever you need those beans for!

Notes

DO NOT add salt to the beans at any time during this cooking process, otherwise they will remain hard and not cook.

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Ta-Daa! So what’s up with the bay leaf? By cooking beans with a bay leaf, you break down the hard to digest oligosaccharides in them, giving your body an easier time breaking them down during digestion with the anti-oligosaccharides enzyme. Not only can you use a bay leaf, you can also use 1 tsp of cumin, 2 tsp of epazote leaves, or 2 inches of kpmbu (a sea vegetable). I like the bay leaf though as the flavor is light and earthy and smells fantastic! With the overnight soaking and fully cooking the beans with a bay leaf, you will be eating a bounty of beans like never before and without the rough tummy effects!

That’s my easy way to cook my dried beans! No need to worry about BPA-lined cans of sodium soaked sadness, long hours in a slow cooker, or the possibility of pots boiling over (and bean-bloat!). Another little surprise you may enjoy. It you aren’t a fan of the skins of beans (specifically chickpeas), the skins mostly all come off during the process and if some remain, they can be easily removed.

Comments

This rice cooker method works great! I have cooked beans like this for many years. One-and-a-half cycles for me on the white rice setting works every time!
I just put in some fantastic heirloom Jacob’s Cattle beans to cook with a couple small bay leaves. I soaked them all last night in water with a Tbsp of kefir (to further prevent bean-bloat). I can’t wait for lunch!

Oh, my gosh! I can’t wait to get an instant pot! I bought my fancy rice cooker with yogurt, steam, and quinoa settings (in addition to the 3 rice, slow cooker and oatmeal settings) last year so I may have to wait a bit for it 😞
My beans turned out great, as usual. I already made some into a warm bean dip seasoned with cumin, garlic, onions and a pinch of my secret Italian seasoning.
I’m going to scour your blog for more goodness while I finish my nachos!
Cheers!

I have ever known about using rice cooker to cook beans but I don’t know how to cook. The instruction is very good for me. It’s very suprised me that using a bay leaf to make beans tasty. I need to try.

I don’t have a rice cooker, but I just bought an Instant Pot, which can be used as a pressure cooker, slow cooker or rice cooker. I am going to have to try to use it for this recipe/tip on the rice cooker setting. Great idea!Laura @MotherWouldKnow recently posted…Slow Cooker Chickpea Stew

Brilliant! I love this idea. My rice cooker just died Friday night in the middle of cooking brown rice. Now I have even more reason to buy a new one!Christie recently posted…Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Smoothie

I didn’t know about the bay leaf! It sounds like a great way to further prevent bean bloat! I usually just soak the beans in whey/water overnight, and that works pretty well too.CJ Huang recently posted…Seared Salmon and Lemon Butter Pasta

I tend to cook my beans in a giant stock pot, which my husband bought years ago. It’s so big I don’t have to worry about any spills!
I had it in my mind that slow cookers and rice cookers are no good for cooking beans. I don’t know why…
We actually have a redundant rice cooker (again something my husband bought). It’s only ever been used twice, as I find it easier to cook small quantities of rice on the stove. We may well use it for beans now!
Great tip with the bay leaf!

Rebecca, this is brilliant! LOL The simplest solutions sometimes escape me! LOL I usually soak my beans overnight, this week my menu schedule got shuffled and I needed the beans that evening, they were still in the bag, I boiled them, it was the first time for me. I never thought about the crock pot and my rice steamer quit on us-overuse I assume! But I will definitely keep the crock pot in mind for the next time! Thanks. BTW, those garbanzo beans look delish!Nikki Frank-Hamilton recently posted…#WAYWOW Social Media Blast #3

Great tip. I have a rice cooker with a slow cooker function and that’s what I usually use for beans but I’ll have to try this. Adding the bay leaf is a great tip too. I’ve never heard of it. The cumin would be great for beans to use in chili.

I am definitely going to try this. I usually use a crock pot, but I can never get the cooking time quite right. Well, actually I usually use canned beans because I forget to cook the beans ahead of time. :P. Also, thanks for the great tip about the bay leaf. I guess I’ll need to stock up on more of those.

Simple and time-saving tips are always appreciated! I don’t have a rice cooker but this would be a consideration to get one. Thanks!Dr. Jennifer Weinberg MD MPH | Simple Pure Whole Wellness recently posted…Going Gluten-Free the Simple Pure Whole Way

Can’t wait to try this! I ALWAYS use my slow cooker. easy, hands off. I’m trying this next. Have you experimented with different types of beans? Does the length of time or number of cycles vary depending on the bean? I get mine from a local farmer. Navy, Black, Pinto, Cranberry, Kidney.

This is great timing – I got a rice cooker for Christmas and have been researching new recipes. We also are trying to get healthier (sigh) at our house so this came at just the right time. Thanks for sharing and I’m going to conquer those bags of rice right now !!!!!

I love buying dried beans instead of canned and cooking up a big batch at a time. I don’t have a rice cooker to use, but I do mine in a big bean crock, and they come out beautifully!Laura recently posted…Ethiopian Black Eyed Pea Dip

I put bay leaf in my beans also, but I thought it was only for flavor…thanks for the information. I usually cook pinto, red or lima beans and I season them with chopped onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper… New Orleans style beans.

This is so cool! I had no idea that it was possible to cook anything other than rice in a rice cooker – I was always too scared to cook anything else in mine lol! I’m definitely going to give this a try and use it to cook some beans. Thank you so much for sharing all of this great information Rebecca! <3

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[…] Maybe it’s because they are great for leveling out your blood-sugar levels. Maybe it’s because they’re high fiber and low fat. Or maybe it’s just because I can add them as easily to a salad or a cooked meal and it saves me having to reinvent the wheel for every meal. Here is the method to cook your beans. […]

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Hey friends! I’m Rebecca a healthy gluten-free & allergy-friendly food blogger, Celiac advocate, yogi, and college student! I have a strong passion for finding the beauty and happiness in life no matter what hurdles it throws at you. To me happiness is sunshine, stepping onto my yellow yoga mat, waking up at 4 am, mugs of hot tea or black coffee, and of course cooking up delicious, nutritious food!